Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jean Moffat, Aileen Morton and Gary Mulvaney.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee held on 3 December 2020

The Minutes of the meeting of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee held on 3 December 2020 were approved as a correct record.

Councillors Anne Horn and Sir Jamie McGrigor joined the meeting during the consideration of the following item of business.

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report presenting the Development and Economic Growth Service and Roads and Infrastructure Service performance report with associated scorecard for performance in FQ3 2020/21 (October-December 2020).

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee -

1.    Noted the scorecard as presented.

2.    Agreed that action should be taken in respect of the dog fouling problem in Argyll and Bute and that discussion would take place between the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee and the appropriate officers in respect of tackling the problem; with a report to the June meeting of the Committee advising of the action that had been taken.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth and Roads and Infrastructure dated 4 March 2021, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure

The Committee gave consideration to a report detailing the proposed roads reconstruction programme for 2021/22.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee –

1.    Endorsed the proposed programme of capital works for 2021/22.

2.    Agreed that details of each Area Committee’s programme would be forwarded on to individual Elected Members which would include the additional £2.61M of investment.

3.    Agreed that the full programme together with an update on delivery would be presented to the June Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee.

4.    Agreed that updates to Area Committees would be provided as the programme progressed.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure dated January 2021, submitted)

Councillor Donald MacMillan left the meeting at this point.

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing detail of works that officers were undertaking to reduce the number of outstanding street lighting matters.  The report also provided detail of a proposal to consult with the Northern Roads Collaboration around progressing a joint approach to seek alternative and timelier repairs to underground electricity supplies.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee endorsed the proposals to take the issues that were being experienced around underground cable faults to the Northern Roads Collaboration.

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure dated 14 January 2021, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update of the work done in attracting inward investment into Argyll and Bute from the screen industries and the economic benefits that this brought to the area including the opportunities to promote and market the area.  The report also highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on film and TV production in Argyll and Bute; and provided an overview of how challenges within the industry had directly impacted the number and size of promotions coming into the area in the year 2020.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee –

1.    Noted the content of the report and the continued positive economic impact the screen industry has had on Argyll and Bute.

2.    Noted the challenges the screen industries had faced over the last year and the impact this had on Argyll and Bute’s local economy.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 6 January 2021, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report detailing the role of the Housing Occupational Therapist in the delivery of the Argyll and Bute Local Housing Strategy.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee noted the success of the Housing Occupational Therapist post.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 23 November 2020, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing an update on Town Centre Capital Funding from the Scottish Government.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee –

1.    Noted the content of the report.

2.    Recognised and congratulated the team for their achievement in Campbeltown being announced as winner of the 2020 SURF Awards as Scotland’s most improved place.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 11 January 2021, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report setting out the current position of the larger scale projects that are mainly externally funded and which are being developed by the Transformation Projects and Regeneration Team.  The report outlined other areas of work undertaken by the Team and reported on key issues impacting on the current status of the delivery of the projects.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee noted the current progress contained within the report.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated January 2021, submitted)

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee gave consideration to a report advising of an invitation from Transport Scotland to provide feedback on the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) Update and Phase 1 Recommendation Report and the STPR2 options and Covid-19 scenarios by midnight on 31 March 2021.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee –

1.    Delegated authority to the Executive Director in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee to agree a consultation response which would be informed by discussion and comments at an Elected Member seminar on 23 March 2021.

2.    Noted some of the emerging concerns set out in the submitted report and noted that these were the initial thoughts from officers who at the time of writing the report were still reviewing the material published by Transport Scotland.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 15 February 2021, submitted)

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee Workplan was before the Committee for noting.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee noted the content of the work plan.

(Reference:  Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee Workplan dated March 2021, submitted)

The Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the press and public for the following item of business on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 6 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

The Committee considered a report in relation to an application for an extension to an existing loan.

Decision

The Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee agreed to make a recommendation to Council as per the recommendation contained within the submitted report.

(Reference:  Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth dated 23 November 2020, submitted)

E1   Paragraph 4  Information relating to any particular applicant for, or recipient or former recipient of, any financial assistance provided by the authority.